Chief Judge Claire V. Eagan of the U.S. District
Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma rejected claims
by plaintiff Robin Cameron that her collusion allegations
against Kemper National Services and Dr. Horace C. Lukens
were not related to whether she was entitled to continued
disability payments because of a psychiatric
disorder.
Eagan ruled that Cameron's state law claims
dealt with the management of her plan and the termination
of her benefits and therefore were properly handled
under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act
(ERISA).
In addition, the court said that Cameron's
claims against a fiduciary under ERISA fell within the
scope of Section 502(a). Eagan found that AEP and Kemper
qualified as ERISA fiduciaries and the claims against
them could be treated as ERISA claims so that gave Eagan
proper jurisdiction in the matter.
In a related issue, Eagan found that, to the extent
that Cameron's claims were not preempted by ERISA,
her allegations were foreclosed by Oklahoma's
two-year statute of limitations for fraud.
Cameron had received benefits under a plan
sponsored by her employer, American Electric Power
Services Corp. (AEP).
She charged that the administrator conspired with
Lukens, an independent doctor brought in to assess the
extent of Cameron's disability, by relying on a
fraudulent medical exam. Lukens decided Cameron was no
longer totally disabled, and based on that judgment, Kemper
cut off Cameron's payments.
According to the court, the Oklahoma Board of
Examiners of Psychologists entered a consent order that
Lukens had committed ethical violations during
Cameron's exam by misinforming her of the rules of
patient/doctor confidentiality.
Cameron then filed her lawsuit alleging, among
other things, that Lukens's exam was a
"sham" and that the defendants, including
Lukens's employer, Forest Hills IPA, conspired to
keep her from getting continued benefits.
The case is
Cameron v. Forest Hills IPA Inc.,
N.D. Okla., No. 09-CV-0311-CVE-PJC.